Year: 1998
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Joachim Schäfer
Number of tracks: 11

★★★★★

Snooze alarm

The Emergency-series began at a time when my English skills were non-existent. For this reason, I consistently pronounced game titles like Disciples as 'Dissipless' and didn't know that 'Emergency' translates to 'Notfall' in German. Interestingly, the game title actually hits the nail on the head for German games, as it's about us as emergency operator taking over the coordination of emergency situations and managing various services like the police, paramedics, and fire department at the scene. Whether the catchy subtitle Fighters for Life was really necessary is another question altogether.

My first encounters, however, were only with Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life - we can see that the subtitles are getting better - even though my brother swears we played the demo of part 1. I don't remember that, and when I look at the gameplay and the rudimentary graphics that already seemed outdated in 1998 (note that the previous year Age of Empires was released, and as early as 1995, the first Command & Conquer), I can only be glad about it. For the sake of completeness, however, I still wanted to listen to the soundtrack, since thanks to nostalgia, I still enjoy the one from Emergency 2, today.

Emergency: Fighters for Life (1998)

Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life (2002)

Whether due to the absence of nostalgic memories or the change of composer, I unfortunately cannot recommend the score (or gamerip) of Emergency: Fighters for Life . Joachim Schäfer presents us with tired synth sounds here, lacking the nerve-racking tension that still makes our pulses race when giving hectic commands to team members in the sequels. Rhythmic beats and repeating chords provide a repetitive listening experience that lacks experimentation and only occasionally makes us sit up and take notice.

With 3 stars, I am actually relatively lenient in terms of rating, but as a first work in the video game sector, I don't want to be unfair and can imagine that fans of the game can experience an auditory homecoming. For everyone else, there is a subdued background hum that somehow doesn't quite evoke the feeling of an urgent emergency.

Nr.	Title	Interpret(en)	Ratings
01	Intro	Joachim Schäfer	3
02	Emergency: Fighters for Life 01	Joachim Schäfer	2
03	Emergency: Fighters for Life 02	Joachim Schäfer	3
04	Emergency: Fighters for Life 03	Joachim Schäfer	3
05	Emergency: Fighters for Life 04	Joachim Schäfer	2
06	Emergency: Fighters for Life 05	Joachim Schäfer	2
07	Emergency: Fighters for Life 06	Joachim Schäfer	2
08	Emergency: Fighters for Life 07	Joachim Schäfer	2
09	Emergency: Fighters for Life 08	Joachim Schäfer	3
10	Emergency: Fighters for Life 09	Joachim Schäfer	2
11	Emergency: Fighters for Life 10	Joachim Schäfer	2